WCG 2011 Grand Finals

WCG 2011WCG Grand Finals will take place on December 8th – 11th 2011 in BEXCO (Busan Exhibition & Convention Centre), Busan, Republic of Korea. World Cyber Games is an Olympics-style event where players from all over the world represent their country in their chosen gaming discipline. WCG started as part of a games convention in 2000 (known then as World Cyber Games Challenge) and has gone on to include over 80 nations from six continents during its eleven year History.

Starcraft 2 TournamentOn March 7th 2011, WCG announced Starcraft 2 as part of their 2011 event’s game lineup replacing Starcraft: Broodwar which was the Only title to appear at every previous WCG. Starcraft 2 joins games like Counter-Strike, FIFA, League of Legends and World of Warcraft at the 2011 event in Busan.

So WCG annouced this quite quietly but ESV worked hand and hand with WCG this year to make the Grand Final maps. They wanted their own unique versions and we think we came up with it. So since they are not published worldwide yet (in the process right now) I figured I'd show you guys the maps and the changes.

WCG Shakuras Plateau:(Published under "WCG2011 GF Shakuras Plateau)

-Added supply depots at the bottom of each main ramp.-Cross spawn positions only.-Aesthetics redone to Mar Sara (Desert).

WCG Metalopolis:(Published under "WGG2011 GF Metalopolis)

-Cross spawn positions only.-Added supply depots at the bottom of each main ramp.-High Yield Expansion changed to Normal Expansion.-Some aesthetics changed to Tarsonis.-Changed lighting to Daytime.-Added the space shark in the center.

The ESV Mapmaking team is the very first Starcraft II mapmaking team ever. Created during the early beta on Starcraft II under the name iCCup (later changed to ESV). Since that time the ESV Mapmaking Team has shown they are the premiere mapmakers in the world. Including such notable maps as the highly successful Testbug, the ESV staff have worked with every top tournament in the world like MLG, ESL, TSL 3, IPL and many many more!

We have a great staff and here is some information on them:

Patrick "Diamond" Soulliere II: The creator and owner of the ESV Mapmaking Team, Diamond has had a fascination with maps from his first entry into the Starcraft: Brood War scene. Working with near daily with world-renowned Starcraft caster Artosis on adding map information to Liquipedia, to now owning the very premiere map team, it has come full circle. While only having created one Starcraft: Brood War map in his life and none in Starcraft 2, Diamond has been able to spot the next big thing in maps from a long time out, most notably predicting the success of Testbug but also demanding the recreation and update of the new 2 player superstar map Sanshorn Mist AE. Most notably has been responsible of the re emergence of the PandaBearGuy and constantly tries to figure out how to work neutral invincible Battlecruisers that shoot Banelings into every map possible.

Josh "ProdiG" Folland: One of the first and longest standing members of the mapmaking community, ProdiG got his start making maps the day the map creator was released. He has been a driving force in custom competitive maps, and the ideas and concepts he has helped create will be integral parts of mapmaking for years to come in both 1v1 and 2v2. Some of ProdiG's highlight maps include Neo Enigma, Ithaca, and the 2v2 maps Citadel of Gaia. He hosts his own weekly mapmaking show, "Mapcraft: State of the Terrain" on ESV TV every week.

Peyton "Monitor" Levin: Very much like ProdiG, Monitor got his start in SC2 competitive mapmaking very early in the Starcraft II beta, and instantly became one of the most influential members of the mapmaking community. Originally starting under his own team, Monitor and his staff joined the ESV Mapmaking Team very early on. Since the two teams merged, the result has been amazing. Monitor is a man of many hats, and although his maps are always great, it's what he does behind the scenes that makes him a superstar. Monitor connects all the teams, gives advice to mapmakers of all skill levels on the Teamliquid.net forums, and is a very important piece of the puzzle that is the ESV Map Team. His notable maps include TL Map Contest Finalist Korhal Compound, Pawn RE, and Sungsu Crossing AE.

Philippe "Superouman" CWIK: Superouman is easily the driving force behind Non-Korean mapmaking, and the most successful Non-Korean mapmaker on the planet for SC2. His work has been featured by major organizations as far back as Starcraft: Brood War and his success in SC2 has been unparalleled. He is the creator of the map that broke every boundary for mapmaking Testbug, which helped usher in a new era of map design, thought, and texturing. Testbug went on to be used in roughly 1,000 professional SC2 games across the globe in 2011, and heading into 2012 he already has Sanshorn Mist AE and Cloud Kindgdom, finalists in the IPL and TL mapmaking contests (respectively). Every map he releases is a work of art, and almost unarguably very ahead of it's time. For consistent quality, no one comes close to the works of art Superouman creates.

George "G.Wen" Wen: G.Wen is one of the crew originally brought over with Monitor, and has proven to be a very talented mapmaker. Often pushing the boundaries of map design and layout, his map have been a quiet storm. Hailing from Toronto, Ontario G.Wen is a Mid level Random player on the US server. One of his notable maps is Empress Marsh.

Vilberg "Grebliv" Kristinsson: Grebliv like all the other before, started very early in the Starcraft II Beta and recently has really hit his stride. Sancturary, Grebliv's most recent map is a TL Map Contest Finalists and looks to be one of the very best 3 player maps ever since Testbug. He also recently remade the BW Map, Othello into it's new Othello AE version. Coming from Iceland, he quietly is becoming one of the most skilled and accomplished mapmakers in the world. You can find him lurking around the Teamliquid.net Cusotm Maps forum.

Albert "Neobowman" Jung: Neobowman is a long time mapmaker, that much like Grebliv has enjoyed a great amount of recent success. He was the one responsible for the fan favorite Katrina AE, and also has come up with the recent hit, Bardiche. Neobowman also created the most underrated map of all time, Starlight Breaker. The sole member of the ESV Mapmaking Team of Korean descent, he currently resides in Canada, and brings many new ideas and concepts to both the ESV Mapmaking Team, but also the community as a whole. Also the original creator of the Space Shark.

Alec "Timetwister22" Cooper: The most recent addition to the ESV Mapmaking Team, Timetwister is a bit of a mapmaking phenom. His very first map he ever created is a finalist in the TL Mapmaking Contest, beating out hundreds of other maps made by mapmakers with MUCH more experience. His talent was recognized and he was added very quickly after. The map Haven's Lagoon is the TL Mapmaking Contest Finalist, and could easily make it into the Blizzard ladder on his very first map. Timetwister is now more active on the Teamliquid.net Custom Maps Forum.

Where can I find information on WCG Canada?- There isn’t any yet, however, the WCG Canada Facebook page has undergone a revamp recently in preparation for the 2011 event and Thierry has said that things are looking good for SC2

I added information for Ecuador, Italy and Singapore, all three will be having Starcraft 2 qualifiers though I'm kind of unsure about Ecuador as they indicate that it might be only for WCG Pan-am but they also say that their players will be able to qualify for the grand finals through that tournament but that has never been the case in the past so I'm intrigued and waiting for more information.

You are right about the qualifiers in Ecuador. They are for the WCG Pan-Am. But I'm sure that the winners of those qualifiers in Brazil will go to the grand finals in Korea. If not then what's the point? When you say thats never been the case in the past check the WCG 2005 page for SC. There's an Ecuadorian player there. (Of course he sucked 0-7 but he's there)

On May 27 2011 13:41 VectorC wrote:You are right about the qualifiers in Ecuador. They are for the WCG Pan-Am. But I'm sure that the winners of those qualifiers in Brazil will go to the grand finals in Korea. If not then what's the point? When you say thats never been the case in the past check the WCG 2005 page for SC. There's an Ecuadorian player there. (Of course he sucked 0-7 but he's there)

That wasn't what I was implying. Pan-Am (or the Asian Cyber Games or European Cyber Games) have never acted as qualifiers, they are simply promotional events, WCG started them up as a way to stay relevant year-round instead of having just one tournament. This would be the first year they would use them as qualifying events which is cool because it means there's actually something on the line.

Also, NeutronFlare didn't technically compete, I'm not sure if he had visa issues or something but I know he didn't play any games at the finals

On May 27 2011 13:41 VectorC wrote:You are right about the qualifiers in Ecuador. They are for the WCG Pan-Am. But I'm sure that the winners of those qualifiers in Brazil will go to the grand finals in Korea. If not then what's the point? When you say thats never been the case in the past check the WCG 2005 page for SC. There's an Ecuadorian player there. (Of course he sucked 0-7 but he's there)

That wasn't what I was implying. Pan-Am (or the Asian Cyber Games or European Cyber Games) have never acted as qualifiers, they are simply promotional events, WCG started them up as a way to stay relevant year-round instead of having just one tournament. This would be the first year they would use them as qualifying events which is cool because it means there's actually something on the line.

Also, NeutronFlare didn't technically compete, I'm not sure if he had visa issues or something but I know he didn't play any games at the finals

I wonder if the WC3:TFT tournament is still competetive. Seems that most of the good players have switched over to sc2 (moon, grubby, lyn etc.), perhaps some of those will give it a shot in both games? Can't imagine it would take much practice for them to have a shot in wc3 since they are maintaining their rts skill anyway.